7 Steps To Reverse Acid Reflux

44% of Americans have heartburn at least once a month. 25 to 35% have reflux. Acid-blocking drugs or what we call PPIs like Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec—that little purple pill—are the third most prescribed medications in the country. Recently, I was at a medical insurance company, and they told me that the third most expensive condition after heart disease and diabetes for their population is reflux because of all the scopes, pills, and procedures needed to treat it. Reflux causes tremendous problems, and nobody is asking why. Why are we suffering from reflux? What is the cause? Is it something we are doing or something we are eating? Is there some other factor that’s driving this epidemic?

Getting to the root cause of reflux

In Functional Medicine, we ask, “What is the root cause of the problem, and how do we correct it?” For reflux, the root cause is sometimes very straightforward. It may be what we are eating. Some common triggers of reflux include:

Fried foods

Spicy foods

Citrus foods

Tomato-based foods

Processed foods

Alcohol

Caffeine

Smoking

Acid reflux could be caused by other factors, as well:

Eating right before bed

Eating with an already full stomach—which can cause the food to come back up.

Being overweight and having a big belly—which can push your stomach up, causing reflux.

Chronic stress affects the nerves in your stomach, making it impossible to process the food properly. This will cause food to go up instead of down. In fact, in order to digest your food well, you have to relax. So, breathing before eating is a very important tool.

Loss of magnesium, which is caused by stress. Magnesium is needed to relax the sphincter at the bottom of your stomach that actually lets the food go down. When you don’t have enough magnesium, the food goes up.

Food sensitivities that may not be diagnosed by your average physician, including gluten and dairy.

Bad bacteria or yeast growing in your stomach. If you have been on a lot of antibiotics, if you have been on hormones, if you eat a lot of sugar and processed food, you could grow bad bugs in your gut, and they ferment and push things around and cause reflux.

H. Pylori, a bacterium that affects a number of people in our population, can sometimes be linked to reflux.

So, there’s a whole series of causes, everything from what you are eating, to your lifestyle, to stress, to smoking, caffeine, alcohol, to bacteria in your gut, to food sensitivities—all these things can trigger reflux.

Correcting your acid reflux at its source

The key to solving this problem isn’t taking an acid blocker, which can cause all sorts of problems. It may give you symptomatic relief, but there are problems with these drugs. They may cause an increase in pneumonia, in bloating, in overgrowth of bad bugs in your gut. They might also prevent mineral absorption. You need some acid in your stomach in order to digest your food and absorb the nutrients it contains. So, reducing the acid in your stomach could lead to mineral and vitamin deficiencies. For example, a B12 deficiency is really common. If you’ve been taking an acid blocker for many years, then you can get a zinc deficiency or a B12 deficiency that can cause depression. It can cause neuropathy, memory problems, digestive issues, osteoporosis, and much more.

So, the key isn’t taking the drug. It’s finding the cause. Functional Medicine is medicine by cause not by symptom, and that is exactly what we do with the reflux.

There are some really simple actions you can take to see if there are any specific triggers that are causing your problem.

Fix your diet. The things that are common and easy to remove are spicy foods, citrus foods, tomato-based foods, and fried foods. Simple.

Get rid of possible food allergens for a short period of time, like two weeks. Gluten and dairy are the most common ones.

Try to get rid of the triggers for a few weeks, like alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, all of which trigger reflux. Not forever, but try it for a little while, and see if it’s causing your problem.

Deal with stress before you eat. Try a very simple technique that I call “Take Five.” Take five breaths before each meal. Count in to the count of five, out to the count of five, and breathe deeply. You’ll notice a huge relaxation in your nervous system, and you’ll digest your food better.

Get tested. If you are still not getting better after taking these steps, then, you’ll want to do some testing, which you can do with your Functional Medicine doctor:

One of the most prevalent comorbidities of IPF is acid reflux, affecting thousands of patients every year. Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below, and subscribe to join our community.

Dr. Mark Hyman is dedicated to tackling the root causes of chronic disease through Functional Medicine. Republished with permission of Dr. Hyman from his article on reducing acid reflux.

IPFF’s website including any and all content directly or by linking to a third-party website is for informational purposes only. IPPF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information click here.

16 Comments

Carlene Collins
on August 22, 2019 at 10:08 pm

If I eat late and go to bed I get acid indigestion so I eat slow and watch what I eat and wait at least 3hrs for bedtime

I have a hiatal hernia that causes my acid reflux problems. I was prescribed Protonic and prescription strength Prilosec. I took these medication for years. Last year I was diagnosed with stage IV kidney failure. That was a big surprise to me because I have never had kidney problems. My nephrologist said it was most likely caused by those acid reflux medications. He took me off those PPI meds and my kidney function improved and now I am in stage III kidney disease.
But my acid reflux is out of control.

I have had heart burns for more than 30 years now. I have tried many different things and as nothing was working I started taking Gaviscon before bed because of the acid reflex. Then I started taking nexium for many years. 2/3 years ago, I stopped taking Nexium/prilosec after reading the side effects. My doctor changed it for Zantac. He was upset with me that I didn’t want to keep taking the nexium/Prilosec and told me that I was reading too much!! Two weeks ago, I also stopped the Zantac and I started taking “natural” medication, like aloe, zinc, glutamine. It is not perfect but I am trying to manage my symptoms adding chewing gum, and licorice. No more coffee/tea, spicy food for me and no sleeping on the right side. I really hope that a cure will be fine for this annoying problem. Sorry for the long message:)

I have Barrett’s esophagus also and diagnosed in 2018 with IPF! Also had reflux and aspirated several times during surgeries leading to pneumonia 3 times! I have wondered myself if that could be a cause if IPF

I was diagnosed with IPF some three years ago and prescribed Esbriet (800 mg three times a day). From the outset I suffered from debilitating nausea and acid reflux. My doctor prescribed Lansoprazole (30mg once a day) which cured the nausea and acid reflux symptoms. Over the past year I have slowly cut back to four tablets a week and would like to eventually cut the Lansoprazole out completely. So far the symptoms have not returned.

I’ve had acid reflux for years and have been prescribed Prilosec, Omeprazole & others & now on Ranitidine. I was never warned of the affects it was having on my bones. Now I’m dealing with osteoporosis. Not only that, but have been dealing with IPF for years which they think might be caused by acid reflux. I wish I Dr Hymans advice years ago. Maybe I’d be healthy now.
Thank you Dr. for this good advice.

I have crohns, diverticulosis, hiatia hernia and Barrett’s esophagus. I have had my esophagus stretched many times and Botox to keep open. I have had the motility test and my flap has slowed down. I take diltiazem twice a day to keep it open. I was taking Randitine and take panterozole for acid. I eat clean and exercise. I used to used an inhaler to keep esophagus open but it gave me internal yeast infection. Open for suggestions. I saw on TV they are working on an esophagus ring to put in to help with reflux. It was the University of Virginia.

I’ve been taking 40mg Prilosec for 10 years. I have COPD and sometimes what comes up goes into my bronchial tubes and I have to turn upside down to get gravity to help me cough it out, lol. If I have breakfast, anything especially with butter, without taking my Prilosec first, I hurt all-day. My second go-to is baking soda and water. It neutralizes the acid and I am ok then. I find if I spit whatever comes up out several times, I’m ok the rest of the night. I’m 59 and have had this since I was in my teens.

I had an inflamed esophagus and stomach in 2012. I had already stopped gluten and dairy but I also stopped sugar and I took DGL licorice and marshmallow root. I lost weight and everything healed up. Suffering again because I take so many meds for RA but hoping to lose weight and take something homeopathic.

I have have GERD for over 50 years. I have taken many various medications. I also have a hiatal hernia. I have had esophagus stretched 2 times. Just this past Tuesday I need another Endoscopy. Things are about the same….no worse. But I do have osteoporosis and I live on medications: Omenprazole 40 mg every morning and Ranatidine (RX strength) every night. I have tried getting off medications to no avail…..I just feel so bad I have to get back on them. I have tried most of the suggestions in the article but I love sweet tea….(I know that is bad but I think I am addicted). I can eat anything but periodically something listed in the above triggers will cause me to have issues. I eat small meals. I notice you put dairy on the list and I don’t use milk but I do eat Greek yogurt with blueberries and English Walnuts every morning and find that to be the best start to my day. It seems to help my stomach not hinder. I do drink decaf coffee and tea when I make them at home. I hope a way to diagnose each person’s triggers is found and can help each of us suffering from this issue. Thanks for the good article.

I have experienced acid reflux with increasing symptoms over many decades. I have utilized most of the acid medications over the years with varying results. I have also tried many natural treatments and diet control unsuccessfully. I also have a hiatal hernia.
I was diagnosed with IPF about a year ago and advised to aggressively address the acid reflux issue. After extensive testing, I was offered and chose to undergo a Nissen Fundoplication (stomach wrap around the esophagus) performed laprascopically. My Hiatal hernia was repaired at the same time.
the surgery has eliminated all symptoms with few complications and my IPF condition is now stable.

I have had Gerd for about 20 years which has gotten worst over the years. I have taken most of the acid reflux medications which have worked off and on. I have a hiatal hernia as well. I try to stay away from spicy foods and eat better. In the process of trying to lose weight. Lately it seems that none of the medications are working and my burning is unbearable. I have not had any of the surgery and at this point considering it to help relieve the pain if possible.

I have an unique acid reflux issue and do not know if I can gain some insight from someone. I learned that Zinc-L-Carnosine can strengthen my stomach lining. But after I took it for two weeks as required, I started to have acid reflux and my doctor told me that my stomach has a negative response to it. I tried pepcide and Gelusil which are prescribed by my doctor, I had very severe indigestion. Thank you for your suggestions and I will start to find out my trigger.